


Rings

by SunflowerAro



Series: Familiar [7]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:28:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24729709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunflowerAro/pseuds/SunflowerAro
Summary: Tails makes good on his promise to take Sonic somewhere new.
Series: Familiar [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1653865
Comments: 9
Kudos: 46





	Rings

Sonic scrunched his nose up as something tickled against his fur, shifting away from the sensation and back towards sleep. 

“Sonic.”

He made a face, shaking his head when the sensation persisted.

“Sonic!”

He jumped at the yell beside his ear, leaning back a little too far and yelping as his hammock tipped, depositing him onto the floor none too gently. Sonic grumbled, rubbing the back of his head as laughter erupted from nearby. He squinted, vision taking a moment to adjust as any lingering strings of sleep were cut. Orange fur filled his vision and Sonic scowled. 

“Was it necessary to wake me like that?” Sonic huffed. He glanced outside, doing a double-take when he saw how dark it still was. Sure, he was naturally an early riser, but the sun hadn't even risen yet!

“Sorry,” Tails apologised, not an ounce of regret in his sparkling eyes. “But I needed you up bright and early for our trip today.”

That caught Sonic’s attention. “Trip?”

Tails nodded. “I promised I’d take you off-world, and we need to stock up.”

Sonic’s eyes widened and he jumped up as excitement buzzed through his veins, banishing any fatigue. “Are we going grocery shopping?” 

He couldn’t wait to try all the different sorts of foods that lay waiting for him in that planet. Earth itself had many delicacies, and he could only imagine what other recipes new worlds would have. His heart sunk when Tails shook his head, finally having the audacity to seem apologetic. 

“Not today, sorry. We’ve still got enough food for now. It’s a surprise, though.” 

Sonic pouted, crossing his arms petulantly. “Not even a hint for such a rude awakening?”

Tails stuck his tongue out. “Nope. You’ll see soon enough. Now get ready, we’re leaving in five.”

Sonic jumped up, shooting Tails a half-hearted glare as he dashed around to prepare himself. Sure, all he needed to do was brush any knots from his fur and don his jacket—because it was _freezing_ —but that left him no time for breakfast. 

“Come on, Sonic,” Tail’s piped up from the doorway, bouncing on the balls of his feet impatiently.

“I’m coming!” Sonic paused only to shove on his shoes before racing after Tails when the impatient fox began to walk off. 

“What about breakfast?” He asked as they passed by the kitchen, Tails pausing only to snatch up a satchel from atop the counter.

Tails waved nonchalantly. “Don’t worry about that right now.”

Sonic huffed, pouting. “Can you not be so vague?” 

Tails stuck his tongue out. “You’ll see soon, now come on!” 

Sonic cast one more longing look at the kitchen, reaching out to grab an apple from the fruit basket. Tails snatched his hand before he could, tugging him outside and onto the soft sand. The ocean breeze brushed through his fur, sending his jacket billowing behind him as he hugged his frame to preserve heat. 

Tails turned around with a grin, unaffected by the crisp wind, even as his tails swayed about his middle. 

“Are you ready?” He asked, eyes bright.

Sonic nodded, a smile tugging at his lips as excitement buzzed through him—or was that just him shivering from the cold?

Tails turned, rummaging through his satchel before pulling out a _bronze_ ring. Sonic frowned, peering closer to inspect the ring; he had never seen one like that before, nor had Tails mentioned them. Tails grinned when Sonic raised an eyebrow, tossing the ring forward towards the sand. Before the ring could meet the ground, it floated up, increasing in size. Within the blink of an eye, a portal stood before them, a hazy blue mist covering the other side. 

“Bronze rings always take the user to the same place,” Tails said, his words doing nothing to alleviate the confusion pooling in Sonic’s mind like thick fog.

“Ready?” Tails asked.

Sonic shook himself from his stupor, anticipation shooting through the haze of confusion like lightning. “Let’s go!”

Tails held out his hand for Sonic to take, laughing softly when Sonic tilted his head with a frown. He took Tails’ hand, allowing the fox to lead them both through the hazy portal. The ring snapped shut behind him instantly, the cool breeze whipping at his jacket abruptly cut off. Sonic turned around with furrowed brows. 

“Bronze rings close after one use,” Tails explained. “If we weren’t together, it would have shut before you could come through behind me. It’s a little annoying, but you get used to it.” 

Sonic nodded, turning back to Tails when his eyes caught onto the shine of the world they had landed in. Hundreds of thousands of rings sat in piles on either side of him, the mounds reaching high into the sky and glimmering in the sun. Most were the darker bronze of the ring Tails had used to get them here, but Sonic could make out gleams of silver speckled within them, shining brighter than the bronze rings. 

“Why aren’t there any golden ones?” He murmured, too amazed to speak any louder. 

“Those ones are rare, remember?” 

Sonic nodded absentmindedly, distracted when a wide, purple portal opened up above an empty plot of land. He gasped when thousands of rings poured out from it, a pile higher than the rest appearing within seconds. The portal shrank with a soft pop.

Tails followed his gaze, eyebrows knitting together before he gently smacked himself on the forehead. 

“I forgot that you’d…forgotten,” he snickered to himself. “This world is the Ring World. Every ring that’s used returns here. The golden ones appear in special places, and each person can only take one at a time. The rest are free to take as you please.” 

Sonic hummed in understanding. “So, where are the golden rings?” 

Tails grinned. “I’ll show you. First, we need some more silver and bronze rings.” 

Sonic pouted, but Tails only stuck out his tongue and waved for him to follow as he drifted off. Rolling his eyes, Sonic moved to walk by Tails’ side as they headed to the new pile of rings, weaving between smaller ones. As they picked their way over stray rings, Sonic finally saw other signs of life on the planet. Sidestepping past a pile, he could see hundreds of other creatures milling about. Some sat on their knees, digging through rings, while others stood to the side of the piles, chatting with wide gestures. Uniformed creatures strolled along the piles, occasionally addressing those collecting rings, leaving only once a card had been revealed.

“Um. Tails?” 

Tails hummed distractedly as he sunk to his knees, picking out silver rings from the pile and collecting them in his palm.

“Are those…officers?” 

Tails froze, nearly dropping the small collection of rings in his hand as he turned around. “Shoot, I forgot to mention them. Hold on.” 

He placed the rings in a leather pouch, tightening the drawstring and placing it to the side before digging through his satchel. 

Sonic edged closer to him as one of the officers strolled closer to him, a flutter of nerves beating its wings upon his ribs as he made eye contact with them. On earth, he could easily avoid police officers, but he knew nothing of the officers here.

What if they could catch up to him?

“Aha!” Tails’ exclamation drew him out of his anxious musings and he looked back down at his friend, grateful for the distraction. Tails turned to him with a bright grin, presenting a card in his hands. 

Sonic tilted his head, taking the card and turning it over to inspect it. 

“It’s an I.D. card,” Tails explained. 

Sonic nodded, narrowing his eyes at the card. It held his name, species and birth date, as well as an identification number. Flipping it over once more, Sonic inhaled sharply. A photograph of himself shone brightly on this side, a small smile upon his young face—even younger than he was now. His quills were shorter, eyes brighter, even if they still held pain within them. 

“What…?”  
“It’s your old I.D. card. I…couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it, and we don’t have many photos back at home…” Tails trailed off, smiling uncertainly before clearing his throat. “Anyway, just show it if one of the officers asks, and we’ll need it for the golden rings.”

Sonic nodded absentmindedly, unable to peel his eyes away from the photo. How old had he been back then? How recent had _her_ death been when this had been taken?

“Excuse me, sir?” 

Sonic jumped, nearly snapping the card in two as he turned to face the officer who stood before him. He looked up at her, taking a step back unconsciously and holding the card close to his chest, because she was _scary_. Razor sharp teeth lined her jaw from an elongated muzzle, her narrowed eyes turned upon him as she stared him down, her paws over her hips. Dark fur sprouted from her hands and her muzzle, lightening to a soft, ashy grey the further it spread. 

“May I see your I.D., hon?”

Sonic snapped back to attention, nodding jerkily and thrusting the I.D. clutched within his fingers for her to take. 

She took the card carefully, scanning the details and murmuring to herself. 

“All good. Sorry to scare ya, sweetie, but we’ve had some criminals around these parts lately. Can’t be too careful. I’ll need to see yours too, hon.” She turned to Tails with a smile that only displayed her fangs further. 

Despite her kind words, Sonic was hesitant to take the card back. 

“I don’t bite, sweetheart. Not good kids like you, that is.” 

Sonic found himself chuckling at her words, taking the card back with a smile upon his lips. 

“There you are.” 

She repeated the procedure with Tails, the fox significantly more affable than Sonic had been, sending her off with a wave once done. 

“That’s Fern,” he said. “She’s been working here for a couple years now, after you…” Tails cleared his throat. “Since I’m the one who always goes on these runs, I see her quite a lot.” 

Sonic nodded in understanding. “She seemed nice.” 

Tails chuckled. “She can be terrifying. You should have seen her when a criminal tried to run away.” He scoffed. “They barely made it a few metres.” 

Sonic smiled, looking back at the woman as she read over another visitor’s card, her tail flicking behind her as she thought.

Tails straightened, turning back to Sonic with a bright smile and ripping him from his thoughts once more. “All done! Now, I believe I promised someone food?” 

Sonic brightened instantly, turning to Tails with shining eyes. “There’s food here?” 

Tails chuckled. “Yep. Come on, I’ll show you.” He took Sonic’s hand, tugging him along as he weaved them through a growing crowd.

Sonic perked up as the heavenly aroma of food wafted towards them. They pushed through the crowd and into an open mall, half a dozen buildings with bright signs proclaiming what each was selling in a horseshoe formation. Sonic eyed off each one, but couldn’t make out the words on them for the life of him, even if a part of him could recognise the symbols. Thankfully, the pictures alongside the writing gave him a decent enough idea of what each had to sell. 

“Your favourite was that one,” Tails said, nudging his side and pointing to the building on his left, the sign a neon yellow with a bright red pepper alongside it. The building sparked recognition within him and he nodded eagerly, moving forward and dragging Tails closer towards the line. 

Sonic hummed to himself as they waited, bouncing on his feet. He eyed off the menu as they drew nearer to the front, but he still couldn’t read it and trying left his head pounding.

“What should I get?” He asked Tails, throwing the menu a look.

Tails followed his gaze, furrowing his brows. “We can get your usual?”

Sonic nodded. If his past-self enjoyed it, he’d no doubt he would as well. “Alright. Can you order? I can’t really read it…”

Tails’ eyes widened in understanding and he nodded. “Sure. Hold on.” 

Tails stepped forward and began speaking to their cashier, their words in English even if the written text was different.

Weird…

Tails passed over some coins with a nod, turning back to Sonic and ushering him over to the other window. “Come on. It’ll be ready in a sec. They’re super quick here.” 

True to his word, Sonic had only just turned around to face Tails and complain about his shoving when Tails’ name was called out from the second window. 

“Huh,” Sonic said to himself as they stepped forward to collect the bags.

“Told you,” Tails said, lips rising into a smirk as he led them over to a bench. “Not the best breakfast food, but that’s never stopped you before.” Tails shrugged, passing Sonic one of the bags before tearing into his own. 

Sonic eyed off the meal. _Blue_ chips coated in a green dressing and beans. It looked like nachos from Earth, save the odd colouring. He shrugged, reaching into his own bag and procuring a…chilli dog? 

The bun was a soft red, and the meat an odd, bright yellow, coated in purple and pink sauces, but the scent was unmistakable. This was definitely a chilli dog. 

Sonic dug in without hesitation, sighing deeply as the taste filled his mouth. For such quick service, the food was astounding: the meat was juicy and hot, clearly fresh; the sauces mingled together, leaving a pleasant burn in his mouth; the bun crunched lightly with each bite, but the insides were soft. 

“How is this so good?” He asked once he had devoured half of it. 

Tails snorted, swallowing his own bite and wiping his mouth with a napkin before he said, “it’s always been this good. They have pretty high standards over here.” 

Sonic nodded, turning back to his food. He certainly couldn’t complain: no waiting _and_ great food? Awesome.

They finished up quickly, moving away from the bench after clearing their rubbish so someone else could sit. 

“Now we need to wait for the golden rings.” Tails nodded towards a line in the distance. 

Sonic grimaced. _Wait?_

A snort had his cheeks flushing red as Tails laughed at him. “I thought you’d feel that way. Don’t stress, there are several stations, and the service is always quick.” 

They took their place in one of the several queues, stepping forward every few seconds. 

“So,” Sonic began, tapping his shoes against the ground absentmindedly as they waited. “Why do the rings work differently?” 

Tails tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

“Why do the bronze ones take us here, while golden ones can go anywhere?” 

“Oh,” Tails said, turning to face the ground as he placed a hand over his chin in thought. “Well, it’s the type of metal each ring is made of that determines the destination. Bronze is pretty stubborn, and it refuses any other place except here, for some odd reason. Gold is significantly more flexible, hence why it can take you anywhere.”

Sonic nodded slowly. “What about the silver ones?” 

“Silver is also pretty stubborn, or so I’ve heard. The golden swirls around it allow the user to move to another world, but silver will only accept predetermined locations.” 

Sonic frowned. That was…weird. 

Tails chuckled. “It took me a bit to wrap my head around. I try not to think too hard about it and just remember the differences between each.” 

Sonic nodded. There was no point wasting time mulling it over, anyway—even if the thought of metal being stubborn left his head cottony with confusion.

“Next!” Sonic jumped, turning sheepishly to where the officer stood behind the desk. 

Tails had the decency to appear apologetic to them, stepping forward with three I.D.s. He gestured for Sonic to take out his own and Sonic hurriedly did so, displaying the card for the officer. They scanned them with a reader quickly, nodding to themself.

“Four?”

Tails nodded and they turned around, procuring four rings from a chest behind them. Sonic glimpsed at some sort of gun strapped to their waist—he gulped anxiously at the sight of it, stepping back and allowing Tails to take the rings.

“Thank you!”

The officer smiled, gesturing for them to move along before calling on the next person. 

“That was...easy,” Sonic said. He hadn’t expected the process to be so smooth.

Tails nodded. “It’s always quick. You can get one golden ring a week, and they scan each I.D. To keep track of everything.” 

Sonic nodded in understanding. “How do they stop people from taking as many bronze and silver rings as they want? Couldn’t anyone take all of them?”

Tails shrugged. “There’s no purpose to hoarding them all when you can easily get back here and take them at your leisure. People are always willing to give up a bronze ring to those in need. Besides, not everyone—”

Sonic missed the rest of Tails' words when he saw the familiar brown spikes of an echidna heading his way. He acted without thinking, drawing his hood over his head, shrouding his face in shadows.

“Sonic?”

He shook his head quickly, nodding to where the echidna waited in line, eyes vacant in boredom. Tails inhaled sharply, pushing them to go faster to avoid the echidna. Sonic tensed as he slipped by the echidna, but they didn’t spare him a glance, staring at the sky with glazed over eyes as they waited in line. 

“Sorry,” Tails said once they had lost the echidna to the crowd. “I forgot to mention that there might be echidnas here. I know you don’t particularly like them, but only a few of the species are from _that_ clan. The rest are peaceful.” 

Some of the tension bled from Sonic’s shoulders at his words. He knew Knuckles wasn’t bad, but it seemed like every other echidna he met had been out to hurt him. The thought of more passive echidnas was mind-boggling. 

“Thanks for getting me out of there, anyway.” Sonic shot Tails a faint smile. 

Tails waved him off with a grin. “Of course! I wouldn’t force you to stay anywhere that made you uncomfortable.” 

Sonic blinked, a warmth rushing into his heart at Tails’ words. A smile spread across his lips, soft and delicate as a petal. He opened his mouth to thank Tails when rough hands shoved him aside. Sonic yelped as he was knocked to the ground, wincing when his elbows and palms caught the brunt of his weight, leaving behind raw, bloody scrapes. 

“Hey!” Tails shouted, turning back to face him and kneeling by his side. “Are you okay?” 

Sonic nodded, shifting to sit on his knees as he eyed off his scratched-up palms. “Yeah, I—”

His words were cut off as a dark blur rushed past him. Sonic leaned to the side to see the blur pounce onto his assailant, knocking them to the ground with a shout.  
_Fern_ , he noted when the two came to a stop. She sat atop the cloaked figure, her knee pressed into their back as she slapped cuffs over their wrists. Two more officers, a short brown frog and a chicken, dashed over to her. They began to speak, the chicken gesturing widely with her wings, but Sonic couldn’t make out any words.

Fern stood, allowing the two officers to take hold of the person with a nod. She stood with her hands over her hips as she watched them go, before she whipped around to face him. 

Sonic flinched back when she raced over to his side, her eyes shining with concern. 

“Are you alright?” She asked, voice gentle. 

Sonic blinked at her sudden change in demeanour: she had gone from aggressively hunting down his assailant to soft words in less than a minute. He nodded mutely.

“His hands,” Tails spoke up from his side. 

Sonic shot him a dirty look, but Fern only gasped worriedly. She took one of his hands in her own, inspecting it delicately. “We’ll need to disinfect these. Who knows what kind of bacteria is living on these floors.” She chuckled to herself, adjusting her grip to his wrist to help pull him back to his feet. “Come on, sweetheart. We’ve a tent nearby where I can patch these up and send you on your way.” 

When he hesitated, she turned back to him with a warm smile reminiscent of Maddie’s own and he couldn’t help but tentatively smile back. Fern led them over to where a tent had been pitched up, a red cross painted on each side. She pulled back the flaps for them, holding them back while he and Tails stepped inside. 

“You can sit down on the bench. I’ll be with you in a second,” she said, moving over to a wooden cabinet in the corner and sifting through its drawers.

Sonic dropped down onto the bench, swinging his legs absentmindedly as he watched Fern search, her tail flicking back and forth behind her as she thought. 

“Here we are!” She said, turning to face them and holding out a kit. 

She knelt down in front of him, holding out her hand patiently. Sonic allowed her to take over, placing his hand in hers without a hitch. She smiled up at him before getting to work. Digging through the kit, she procured an ointment and some wipes.

“This will sting a little,” she said, waiting for his nod of approval before she began to clean his palm.

Sonic hissed lightly and Fern murmured an apology, wiping away the remainder of blood and dirt before applying the soothing ointment. Sonic shivered as it left a cool sensation over his skin. Fern wrapped his palm up expertly, patting his hand before moving onto the other one and repeating the process. She fixed him with a bright smile once done. 

“All good?” She asked.

Sonic hesitated, before admitting, “I think my elbows might have gotten scraped up too.” 

Fern hummed, brows creasing as she moved to sit at his side, taking his forearm gently so she could inspect his elbow. “Yep, nasty scrapes, too. I’ll fix those up in a jiffy.” 

She cleaned his scrapes and applied more ointment before sticking a band aid over them. “Good as new,” she said with a grin. 

Sonic smiled back at her gratefully. “Thank you.”

“Of course, hon. I’m just sorry you got caught up in that mess.”

Sonic shook his head. “It’s not your fault. You were pretty cool out there, though,” he admitted, his face heating up slightly as he looked away.

Fern grinned. “Thanks, hon. Gotta be quick out there when criminals make themselves known. Can’t have them getting away, after all.”

Sonic chuckled at her words.

“Now, you two head home. I’m sure you’ve gotten all you need, and I don’t want you two getting hurt again. Stay safe, okay?” 

Sonic turned to Tails, who nodded. 

“We’re done now,” Tails agreed. “We’ll head home. Thank you again, Fern.” 

Fern waved him off with a smile. “Anything to help out, hon.”

Tails blushed slightly at her words, looking away as he nodded. “Bye, Fern.” 

She waved them off as they stepped back outside. The area had quietened thankfully, most having gone to the queues or higher piles of rings.

“Let’s get out of here,” Tails said, plucking out a stray silver ring from a pile nearby and tossing it into the air in front of him. 

Sonic covered his face as the air gushed up at him, squinting his eyes until it faded. “Let’s go,” he agreed. Nothing sounded more tempting than getting away from any criminals and echidnas on this world.

Sonic sighed in relief as the portal closed behind them, the world falling almost silent as the chatter of the Ring World disappeared with it; birds chirping and leaves rustling replaced it, much to his relief. 

“Are you okay after that?” Tails asked, looking up at him worriedly. 

Sonic nodded. Even if the encounter left him a little on edge, this island was quickly becoming a safe haven for him. 

“I’m good,” Sonic assured him with a smile. 

Tails beamed, gesturing for him to follow as they walked back to the cabin, rings in tow.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Sorry this one's so late, but I tried out a small project that was meant to take two weeks and ended up becoming a big project and took five...oops.  
> Let me know what you thought! As always, stay safe <3


End file.
